Eggs, Experts, and Endings

Hello, Internet World!

Last evening I left off with Dogs – as I heart mine a great deal. Today I shall base my first word off of that with what one of my pups managed to sneak off of my plate this morning.

Eggs

Nutrition gurus – some actual gurus, some self-proclaimed, have gone back and forth for longer than I care to think about whether Eggs are good for us, bad for us, or only the white (psst! It’s clear!), or yolk (which leads to all kinds of puns), or ones made of candy in time for some springtime holidays…well, this morning, they seemed to be great for whichever dog managed to snag it while I was answering the door. Both looked guilty, and neither would ‘fess up.  I know, I know, my life is clearly so difficult!  Personally, I like Eggs – easy to cook in many ways, good source of protein, and the shells are great for the garden!  Though, I do wonder who watched a chicken (or other Egg-laying animal), saw something come out of the hind end of the animal and thought to himself, “I think I want to eat that.” - ??? I understand the whole drinking of milk more readily, as baby animals do so, but the whole Egg thing makes my brain cramp when I think about it for more than a few minutes. So, I’ll leave that, and the whole ‘chicken or Egg first’ deal to the Experts.

Experts

I don’t consider Experts to be infallible individuals who know all about a certain topic. To me, experts are those who are well educated and very knowledgeable in whatever area they are considered Expert. When those who have the knowledge choose to share it with others, especially when they actually like to help others, I get happy vibes.

Experts are unfortunately often viewed by some as infallible – they must be always right, or they will be shunned and treated in other negative ways. This bugs me. We are all human, none of us perfect. I’m glad none of us are truly perfect, as that would leave us completely boring. We need challenges in order to grow, and in order to find our paths in this world. We need valleys and mountains on our journey, boulders and large trees to climb or go around, all kinds of weather to challenge us, and times of ease to rest and truly appreciate what we have and have survived. We need beginnings to inspire us, twists and turns to keep it interesting, and Endings to wrap up what we have had and make way for new beginnings.

Endings

Often, Endings are painful – either we have dealt with something hard for so long, we fear it will never end, or we have had such a great time in other cases that we don’t want the happiness to end, or fear it will never return. Endings can be difficult to accept, like the Ending of an excellent story or series. The fandoms out there in the world prove that there are those who deny their stories having Endings, but I prefer to think of it in a slightly different way: with fans, with memories, and other such amazing aspects of Life and its stories, Endings may come in one form – like the Ending of a book – but the story can still live on (fans often make sure of that). I can think of several Endings in my life that have not been easy in any manner, but I’ve always tried to consider them not only Endings (some of which were a major relief), but beginnings, and milestones. All of these things can be looked back on in any number of ways…and when things get tough, I like to consider them similar to stones. Stones that did not strike me down or trip me so I fell, but stones that I have used to build up my own Fortress.

*Note to readers: shameless plug time!* Since ‘Expert’ makes me think of someone who knows a ton about a topic, and my favorite Experts are those who choose to help others. My sister is my financial Expert…and she absolutely loves to help people. If you’d like to see what she has to say, and ask her questions, you can find her here Financial Wellness Coach - Facebook Page, or  at Financial Wellness Coach - Blog - check it out!

Thanks for your time on this lovely day of E!  See you in a couple days for Fantastic F Words! ;)

JBB

Dogs, Dining, and Downtime

Greetings and salutations – yes, I love Charlotte’s Web. Welcome to Day D (D-Day sounded too…World War II for this post)! Yesterday’s post left off with Consuming, which made me think of Dinner…and away we go!

Dinner

Dinner, one of those important meal things, typically consumed in the evening hours. When I was young, I heard breakfast, lunch, Dinner, and supper. I got confused as to what was Dinner and what was supper. One of my grandmas explained that her family used the term ‘Dinner’ for the biggest meal of the day, and they often ate that in the middle of the day, and supper was then the evening meal. Their meals were breakfast, Dinner, and supper, for the most part. My other grandma told me (yep, I asked to compare stories) that they had their biggest meal in the evening, so they had breakfast, lunch, and Dinner. Then there’s my experience of such things as ‘breakfast for Dinner’ – which I’m pretty sure in my grandmothers’ day would have completely screwed up the entire order of things, and may have caused the planet to start spinning the other way!

Overall, though, when I think of Dinner, I think of a larger group of family  - and maybe even friends – gathering around a table to share a meal, some stories, and that amazing gift of time. My family did a lot of sit-down Dinners together. Breakfast was eaten in time to make it to school or work; lunch was eaten at work or school, and Dinner was a time to gather around the table, eat food, and talk about our days, and other such bits of awesome. Even as my siblings and I grew older and got into more activities, we still often sat and ate Dinner together. To me, Dinner is a community thing, a Decompression Deal, and a great transition from what I have to do to Downtime when I can do whatever floats my boat.

Downtime

I think this cropped up in my brain because my life has been dealing with a serious Drought in this area. Please don’t’ misunderstand me, I love me some Downtime! I don’t have a superhero complex – the mere concept of thinking that anyone can’t do anything without me is too weird to even think about thinking about (ooh, massage your brain over that one!) – I just happen to be at one of those points in life where my proverbial plate is incredibly full. Every time I schedule Downtime (yes, I schedule it – I tend to respect it far more when I schedule time for me) something crops up and it often is something that is both important and urgent. It so often lately has been something that I absolutely cannot reschedule or just put aside for the time being, so I end up nixing my Downtime. This is something I’m trying to work at fixing.

I think we all need more Downtime. I hear and see so many people feeling so much stress, and I think a lot of it has to do with how much we feel we have to do, so we don’t allow ourselves to do what we want to do. I realize that much of the time this is because we feel we can’t allow ourselves to relax when we have so much that must get done. I do this, too. I’m just trying to work on not doing it. There’s too much out there that shows how much all this ‘doing’ is damaging our health. I’m working on not doing so much, even though I fully admit that I suck at it. I’m still trying! I don’t even think it matters what I choose to do for my Downtime, as long as it is what I want to do, rather than what I need to do. Sometimes, the two coincide. I just don’t worry about it. To have Downtime, I like to garden, read, write, meditate, dance, organize (yeah, sometimes it is what I want to do so I relax...don’t ask, I know I’m an odd duck), nap, walk a few miles with my headphones plugged into my random playlists of favorite songs, walk a few miles listening to what I encounter, and walk my Dogs.

Dogs

Dogs, often touted as man’s best friend, make my life so much happier. I currently have a Dog, Jackson, who I adopted when he had just turned a year old. I adopted him on Earth Day, so every April I get to celebrate another year of having him in my life. This Earth Day I will have had him for eight years! Wowza! I got my other Dog, Salty, a few months after Jackson, when my sister and brother-in-law rescued her and she didn’t get along with their Dogs – and I think there was a limit of how many Dogs they could have at their military posting. Somehow, in the in-between weeks, she decided I’m her Alpha, so it makes sense that she owns me with Jackson. She’s my old gal, since we think she is about thirteen right now. I am definitely blessed. These two greet me at the door every time I come inside – even from just taking out the trash – with their hind ends wagging like they’ve been missing me for months. Every time! Now that is a way to feel great! 

They are both rescue babies, and they are so much of my heart, I can’t even express it fully. I’m a very proud Dog mom, and I totally understand that I get more out of our relationship than they do. They give so much love (and middle of the night random kisses and cold noses on my foot or leg if it pokes out from under the covers, just so I won’t forget I’m loved), and are so happy with the simplest things…except brushes and baths. When it comes to those, they both look at me and ask with those eyes why they are being punished with the scratchy thing or the wet stuff when they didn’t do anything wrong. I know there are cat people, Dog people, and the battles between them can get fierce. I have always had Dogs, though I do like cats, and I ‘get’ Dogs a lot more. Yep, I’m a Dog person. Actually, I’m an animal person, but when I’m getting ready for another animal to ‘own’ me (and they train me so very well), my choice does go straight to the Dogs. And pet rocks. Pet rocks are cool. They play dead really well!

Pet rocks aside, no matter how you choose to enjoy your Downtime, I encourage us all to cultivate some, as well as enjoy an actual Dinner time with friends or family soon (or both), and just Deflate the stresses on your shoulders, and share the love with a Dog – remember, petting your Dog helps lower your blood pressure! =) Let’s get healthy! See you for E Day tomorrow! 

Thanks for your time!

JBB 

Childlike Curiosity and Consuming Collections

Hello, everyone! Yesterday I left off my ‘B’ entry after talking about books. That topic leads me to my first topic of the ‘C’ entry: Children

Children

Children – which feels slightly strange to type, since I fully confess that I say kids more often, and I’m not taking about baby goats (though internet videos about baby goats jumping off of each other do amuse my ‘aw’ cells). Books lead me to children simply because my job is basically to get children excited about books, about reading, and about exploring new topics and ideas. My job, in the simplest and probably least eloquent terms, rocks. The children at my school do, too. I don’t have any children ‘of my own’ – as many people choose to put it. I am not a mom, and have no plans to become one, unless I adopt more dogs. I like children, and am a proud aunt many times over, but I know I’m not meant to have my own. This is one thing that I wish people would at least accept about me and so many other people. Some of us are not meant to have children, and some don’t want to have them. This does NOT mean that we don’t like children, or that we will change our minds once we meet ‘the right person’ – the right person will understand, agree with us, and support our choices. I love being around children – of all ages – as they have so much innocent Curiosity.

Childlike Curiosity

The desire to know more, to learn more, to experience more – this is a wonderful thing! I know that some forms of this sense of active wonder can be potentially dangerous, but every day I see so many young minds light up due to a spark of Curiosity that helps their worlds grow exponentially as they learn about themselves, others, and the world (and universe) around them. When I have a student come up to me and tell me something that they have learned or are excited about, or want to know more about, I fill with happiness. When that student asks what books we have in the library to help him or her learn about that topic, or where they can find the information online or in an encyclopedia, the happy feeling bubbies…and then, a Curious classmate asks what they are reading or talking about. Then, the Chain of Curiosity adds a new link, and can only grow and branch out from there. I wish that more adults would remember what it was like to have that desire to learn and grow, and that more of us would return to the innocence of Curiosity – I think we would make amazing leaps and bounds in so many areas of Life! The innocent version of Curiosity – Childlike Curiosity – encompasses that innocence that can lead to so many amazing results!  I don’t mean childish, but childlike – full of wonder, joy, and excitement with every new discovery, collecting knowledge and experiences and absorbing them like parched sponges.

Collections/Collecting

We are all Collectors. We collect experiences throughout our lives. At times, we collect items with those experiences – as a result of the experience, or to help us remember the experience and what we learned from it. Collections can be passed down through generations of a family – stories, figurines, handmade quilts – or collections of an individual’s experiences can be immortalized in a diary or journal, in a biography (or autobiography – though I am of the camp that wonders why we are telling the life stories of cars). These experience Collections can be shared while we are alive, via memoirs – or tabloid headlines, depending on the individual – and stories gathered by family members and shared to help know our family history. Sometimes we don’t know why we keep what we keep until someone passes on and we realize that, to us, that item or story represents that person and our relationship with him or her. Sometimes, our collections get out of control, and we end up with a mess – either in our homes or in our hearts – and we need to do something to regain control over our Consumption.

Consuming/Consumption

We are all Consumers. We consume resources – I don’t know about you, but I like the whole living thing, so I plan on maintaining my Consumption of air and resources enough to maintain my living status – but I do my best to not over Consume. Am I completely successful? Nope. I fully own that. I am, however, constantly working on it. I may not want to have my own children, but I want to support those here already as well as those to come – so I need to make sure my Consumption does not deplete or completely screw up their resources and planet. There’s a saying from somewhere completely intelligent (nope, no clue where) that we don’t inherit the world from our parents, but we borrow it from our children. Keeping that – and my more than 400 students per year - in mind, I try to consider what my actions, both individual and as a whole picture, do to work toward or against that loan. I happen to live in a state where recycling and green living are widely accepted, and being green is something of which we are pretty darn proud. I recycle, probably to ridiculous amounts at times; I reuse items as much as I can, though I try to not go completely overboard; I am constantly trying to reduce my carbon footprint and the amount of sheer…hm, C word…oh, sheer Crap that I have. I prefer memories to trinkets, pictures to stuff, live plants to cut flowers, and hugs and warm wishes – and maybe a night out with friends or family – over physical gifts. Do I appreciate the physical gifts that I receive? Absolutely! The fact that someone thinks of me, wants to celebrate something with me – that is the best gift to me.  Right now I am working on yet another purging of my material goods. I prefer the vibes that go with a clean and open place. Clearing out the items I have Consumed is not easy for me. I have ADHD – not an excuse, but definitely a factor in my life – and that condition contributes to my often having difficulty when I work to clear out the stuff that has become crap to me but may become a favored treasure to someone else. So, I find ways to help me cut the crap, maintain the treasures, and not lose my ever-loving-mind in the process. Except for my Books (reference to my B entry!). I have major difficulty giving those up, reading as much as I do. However, do I consider that a failing? Nope! I can collect – I just work to do my best to keep it under control (and as a librarian, I also have the tendency to keep it pretty organized – BONUS!). I know that as a society and as a human race we can do the same with our lives – control the crap, keep the childlike curiosity, and in the end, have taken the world left to us by preceding generations and turn it into something tremendous for those who will follow after.

So, Come on! Let’s Create Beauty!

Thanks for joining me for my 3^rd A-to-Z entry, that of the Cool letter C! I hope to see you back here tomorrow, wherever my mind decides to meander for the letter D!

JBB

Bounty of Beauty

Beginnings

Yesterday’s post ended with some of my thoughts on Acceptance. I’ll Begin this post with what came to mind as I wrote that bit yesterday – we need to accept ourselves if we want to move past certain things and be able to approach Beginnings. Beginnings that will lead us to those goals, dreams, wide and open meadows full of flowers that we aren’t allergic to, and the cutest animals ever, and sunbeams that always warm and never burn. Well, it’s a thought. =)

Beginnings are typically touted as completely wonderful, perfect, and amazing. What we don’t always choose to acknowledge is that they are also scary, sometimes even terrifying. The bravery that it takes to go through that beginning, to actually decide to try something new, that is something amazing. I think we, as a society, need to realize that, and need to acknowledge it. I hear a lot of cheers for those who finish well, and I agree that finishing well is completely amazing and needs to be celebrated. We need to, however, also recognize what it takes to start something new – Beginnings can be beyond scary, and going for what they represent can be the Bravest thing we ever do.

Bravery               

Bravery, or ‘Braverism’ – as I believe it’s referred to as in the amazing musical, Wicked – is something we associate with doing something that is dangerous. It also refers to doing something that scares us. Now, for some, Bravery is jumping from a plane, going into battle with the armed forces (thank you ALL for your service!), fighting crime or fires (thank you all!), and other such actions. Are these Brave? Abso-freaking-lutely, though the idea of jumping out of a perfectly good plane – for any reason – is not my bag o’chips, by any means. If it rocks your socks, go for it, and I’ll wave from the ground. Bravery comes in many other forms as well. It can show itself when one comes out of any kind of closet to a loved one, or asking out that person on whom you’ve had a crush forever. It can look like someone who takes a mark on stage or on a starting line. Someone who memorizes facts and participates in a Bee in front of others – wow! – or who gives a speech in front of coworkers or supervisors…or the press.  For quietly standing up for what you believe in, especially when your voice shakes, and you know – or find out  - that you stand alone for what you feel is right; these are all so brave. Acting without fear doesn’t denote Bravery; acting because you believe it’s the right thing to do does. And that is simply Beautiful.

Beauty

Every day I am amazed at just how much Beauty there is in the world. Yes, I realize that there is a lot of ugly and hurtful stuff out there, but I truly believe that the world’s Beauty supersedes the negativity. A stranger holding the door to make your day just that tiny bit easier. One spouse giving another flowers, just to see that loved one smile. A student returning a book he isn’t done with so a classmate that he can’t stand can read it first. A smile on a grandparent’s face while watching a grandchild take those precious first steps, and the joy in someone’s eyes when they realize that the far-off, seemingly unachievable goal is what they just managed to do. Beauty is also in the written word – how people express themselves. Putting yourself out there in the Land of Cyberness, in any form, and how you can express yourself, put it on paper for others to explore and try to understand later – be it art or in Books. That is Beautiful.

Books

I am a self-proclaimed bibliophile. I likes me some books…at least a bit. =)  I constantly am reading books – in physical and electronic form, I like both – and absolutely love the written word. Why? The answer differs, depending on who you ask. Partially, it is because I’m a writer, and I fully believe in the concept that, in order to become a great writer, I must be a great reader. I love to joke that I will suffer through the pains of reading good writing is my load to carry, *gasp* ah, poor me! *dramatic sigh with a silly pose*  I also love Books, which works well for me because I run a library. I run the library in an elementary school. I have the best job in the world because I get to introduce young students to books of all kinds , and help them get hooked on reading. Yes, there are frustrations that crop up, like a student who wants so badly to read a certain book, but who isn’t there yet, no matter what he or his teachers try. When that student comes to me – even years later – and shows me what he is currently reading, and tells me what other Books he likes…that is the Beauty in Books. Working in an elementary school shows me Beginnings, a great deal of Bravery –in both students and staff – and Brings me a great deal of hope for our future.

May the Brightest of Blessings grace you and yours.

Thank you for your time. I hope to see you tomorrow, as I explore where my Brain chooses to go with the letter C.

JBB

An Abstracted Approach

As I stated in my last post (When R.A.D. meets the A-to-Z Challenge), my brain appears rather abstract in how it links subject. Based on that, I’ll start today’s posting with my thoughts on abstract art.

*for clarity’s sake, when I switch definite topics, I’ll start a new paragraph with the new link capitalized.*

Abstract Art

Abstract art has always been one of my favorite kinds of art. I know that some people don’t like it because it isn’t always meant to be one easily discernable subject, and if it is, how the artist views the subject is not always clear. I love the ambiguity of so many abstract pieces! Not always having things appear as clearly as we’d like is, in my humble opinion, a great way to make our brain gain more wrinkles – a good thing, as wrinkly brains are smarter, healthier, and look a lot like walnuts! So, would this mean that those who create abstract art have wrinkly brains? I’m not sure, but while looking up some more information about abstract art, I found some pretty neat bits of information.

For example, http://www.abstract-art-framed.com/famous-abstract-artists.html credits Wassily Kandinsky as abstract art’s pioneer.  If you go to this page and click on his name, you can see some of his work. There are links to other artists’ work on the page, as well as information about the artists. Wow – I wonder what they were thinking for many of the pieces. I know that some feel that anyone can do abstract art, but I know I certainly can’t do that kind of work. Then again, I am more of a stick figure kind of artist – oh, and I can draw some great side-view beds and chairs! Impressed yet?  No?  Okay, then go to the website I mentioned and get your impressed-self on! Find something you like, something you hate, something that makes you feel.  Remember, what you get from a piece may have nothing to do with what the artist meant to put into the piece. It may have nothing to do with what another person gets from it. Those facts do not make any of you wrong, so I hope you don’t make that Assumption.  Ooh! New topic!

Assumptions/Assuming

I feel pretty comfortable Assuming that at least some of you know the phrase, ‘you know what you get when you assume – you make an ASS out of U and ME’ (ha, ha, ha).  Assuming may get us into trouble sometimes, but I think of assuming – at least in the positive frame of mind – as a way that people make mental connections with other people. They may not make accurate connections, when they take it for granted that someone else thinks the same way, but people who assume…well, at least they are trying on some level to make connections. Yes, they may be seeking Approval from others, and hoping – praying, even – that their assumptions are accurate and Accepted, but they are putting themselves out there. Personally, I think that is pretty darn brave!

Approval/Appearance/Appeasement

This set of topics jumped out at me as a group (with the insertion of appeasement, thanks brain!), because I consider this one of the biggest trials we face as people. We all want approval from those who we love, respect, and whose opinion we value. If we didn’t seek this approval for everything from our beliefs to our orientations to our Appearances (and on to many other tidbits of our lives, including where we live and what names we give our children and/or pets), then I don’t think our society would be as messed up as it sometimes feels. Lately, I have had some pretty intense feelings that so many people are getting either Aggressive or are trying to Appease everyone at the same time. What happened to we have the freedom of speech, but that right ends when and where the rights of another begins? I have the right to say what I want, when and where I want to say it, but since my rights do not supersede those of another, my using my freedom of speech means I’m willing to accept any consequences (positive or negative) that may arise as a result of my using that freedom. Does that mean that people can just attack me because they don’t happen to like or agree with what I say or do? Absolutely not. I’m not here to make things pretty and simple and easy for everyone. That’d be no fun! Nor am I here to have everyone make things simple, pretty, and easy for me – I wouldn’t evolve as a person if that were the case!  What it means, however, is that your freedom of speech, beliefs, etc., may not coincide with mine, but you and I both have the same rights to HAVE our beliefs, opinions, and such. Which leads us to my last topic of the A blog:

Acceptance

One of the hardest things in Life is to Accept what we don’t like – about others – but even more, about ourselves. We are Amazing individuals, who can make this world a better place with everything we do. That choice is up to us, though. Acceptance is an Active Action of the conscious mind, and something that we all deserve. Does Accepting someone else mean we approve or even like any particular aspect of that person? Absolutely not!  All it means is that we understand and agree to acknowledge that however that person is simply is that person. We can protest what they say and go against what they do, and still accept that person as that person presents him or herself. There are many people who have beliefs and viewpoints that are the opposite of mine. Two of my good friends at work are on the far side of the spectrum (on so many points) from me. We are not only able to work together and get along, we actually have fun doing so, and are there as support for each other. Why and how? Two things: we accept each other however we present ourselves (even if we disagree with each other, which does happen!), and we found something in common that linked us, and led to more and more links of topics in common.  All in all, it’s a pretty cool feeling.

Thanks for your Attention to my A blog. If you have questions that you’d like Answers to, please feel free to Ask Away. I’ll answer as I can.

I wish you and yours a wonderful evening and an even brighter day tomorrow. I’ll see you in the Bs.

JBB

When R.A.D. meets the A-to-Z Challenge

So, I’m sitting down to work on my first A-to-Z challenge post and I realize that my writing style - and my brain's tendencies - make this whole alphabetical order thing the actual challenge for me. My brain wants me to write a post for each letter of the alphabet, but not in the expected order. So, in order for my brain to allow this to work, I am tweaking it slightly for me. My brain works in an apparently random order – yep, inside my mind is very much like an abstract piece of work (I won’t call it art, because that would be FAR too presumptuous) – and links things and concepts together that many might never associate with each other. That, actually, is where the R.A.D. of my title roots itself. R.A.D. stands for Random Abstract Disassociation. It’s a mental game I used to play with friends. One person starts the game off with a word – it can be a noun, a verb, a concept of some sort. The second person takes that word, then the mental paths begin. What word A makes her think of then connects to the next word that she associates with it, and her turn keeps going until she comes up with a final link in the mental chain, and then she says that word to the next person to continue the game. Person B does not have to explain how she got from Person A’s word to the word she gives as her word unless she is challenged by another player – or they seem so random or disassociated from the original word.

Example:
 Person A’s word: moon

 Person B: Moon makes her think of Cheese which makes her think of Nachos. Nachos make her think of little league baseball games, which she associates with Ponytails from how she wore her hair while playing. Ponytails make her think of her My Little Pony figurines from elementary school, and the Clubhouse where she and her friends met for their My Little Pony club. Clubhouse makes her think of Ladders – she had to climb one to get into the clubhouse – which makes her think of the puppy that lived at her new house (where the clubhouse was located) when she and her family were looking at new houses. At her old house (the reason why they were looking at new houses) had bugs, and her least favorite bug is an Earwig.

 Person B’s word to Person C: Earwig 

Person C would then take Earwig and go on the same mental ramble until he or she found a word that seems completely unrelated to Earwig, but actually has a series of paths connecting it. The game was over when someone circled back to the original word, in this case Moon. So, why do you care about this game? Simply because you may be either bored out of your gourd, or want to know the theme of my blog entries this month. I shall be R.A.D-ding my blog posts this month. I will stick with the ABC order, but will have to have a series of links between the two. I may have links within blog posts, and therefore may end up covering a few different topics, depending on how my brain decides to work that day.

 Feel like giving it a shot, and braving the depths of my brain? Welcome aboard! Let’s see what we can link together.

 *Disclaimer: I make no promises that your sanity will maintain its current status should you make the choice to delve into my brain’s meanderings. I wish you luck, and if my mind gets lost again (if you find it), please give it crunchy peanut butter until I can get there.

 Many thanks,
 JBB

The feel on my face...

I have never encountered a type of weather that doesn't bring at least a little happiness to my heart and inspiration to the gnome living deep within the recesses of my mind, who then takes all input from my senses and turns them into creative juices for my writing. Considering the time of year, where I live, and the fact that today is a day that ends in the letter y, I would not have been surprised to find it gloomy and rainy (one of my favorite types of weather since it encourages me to sit and read and write...and do laundry). We did have a little of that, but it has been bright, sunny, and absolutely gorgeous out for most of the day. Of course, being me, this also encourages me to write, but today it makes me want to travel somewhere - anywhere, really - and just experience the weather there. Sound a bit weird? Not so much, really! I love my home; I also love to travel. Being able to experience another place - even one a short drive away - is a great gift that I experience as much as I can. To me, the weather is a huge part of these experiences, and is often key in making each one even better! Don't believe me? Picture this: you've arrived in a new place. You have always wanted to go to this particular location, and have a full day planned out so you can experience as much as possible. When you set out, the day is bright and sunny, the bluest sky you've ever seen only dotted here and there with bright, fluffy clouds. You become engrossed with the beauty and fascinating tidbits that surround you, either ignoring or unaware of the chilly breeze that picks up after a short time. Before you are fully aware, stormy grey clouds have completely covered the blue sky of your arrival, and are building up a large store of moisture. When the rain starts, chilling you with huge, splashy drops. Now you have to make a decision whether you will keep going with your plan for the day, or will you take refuge in a nearby shop, and chance another type of adventure presenting itself to you. Without weather, you wouldn't have to make that decision, and therefore wouldn't have to choose between your possible adventures. In both life and writing, choices present themselves and decisions must be made. Each decision tweaks the plot so from that point on, it will have depended on each of those choices. I had someone ask me why I love weather so much, and this is part of the reason why...it's the part that can most easily explain, and relate to as a writer. Additionally, I try to be a tiny bit more eloquent than just saying, ''Cause it's pretty.' What weather to you prefer to feel on your face - snow, rain, a breeze, sunshine, some other option? Why? Have a wonderful day - and may your weather be just interesting enough that you never grow bored. JBB